The Delhi Photo Festival

Following the great success of India Photo Now, IPN 2008, a seminal project which served as a platform for photography in India in 2008, France is honoured to partner the Delhi Photo Festival in 2013, with a special participation of 15 French photographers for the second edition of this much sought after photographic rendez-vous ! Focus on two of them, Pascal Monteil and Sacha Goldberger.

The French Embassy and Institut français en Inde unveil two distinct photographic genres. The first exhibition, Anywhere out of World, by Pascal Monteil, organised in collaboration with the National Museum, New Delhi, revisits through photography, painting and mixed media, Persian and Indian miniature traditions, perpetuating this art, in all that includes detail, ornamental profusion and spirituality. The second, Mamika: My Big Little Grandmother by Sacha Goldberger, presented at the India Habitat Centre, is a much celebrated series, result of a humorous and tender collaboration between the photographer and his favourite subject: his 94 year old grand-mother.

Whirling Dervishes by Pascal Monteil

Pascal Monteil, a Professor at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Paris, has shown his work internationally and collaborated with prestigious personalities from the arts, notably fashion designer Christian Lacroix. His many influences and techniques – photography, digital and miniature art -translate into a complex body of work which Christian Lacroix compares to an “everyday phantasmagoria”< that develops into a narrative “rich with metamorphosis”. The Exhibition opens at the National Museum in New Delhi with a conversation between the artist and art historian, Dr. Alka Pande on 26th September at 12 noon. The exhibition will be on view till 11 October 2013 at the National Museum / An additional talk by the photographer will take place on 28 September from 2 to 4 pm in the Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre.

Sacha Goldberger has worked extensively in commercials, doing shoots for Elle, WAD and Dealer Deluxe as well as photos for brands such as Marchand d’étoile, Nicorette, Peugeot, Rhodia… More than a photo project, Mamikais a love story between the photographer and his grand-mother. This series of photographs captures her as a feisty heroine in a range of amusing scenarios, accompanied by her witty observations about life and living. Countless costumes, geriatric gaffes, unbelievable stunts, and hilarious photo shoots later, Mamika: My Big Little Grandmother has become an international media sensation. This exhibition will be on view at the India Habitat Centre from 27th September to 11thOctober 2013.

Manika by Sacha Goldberger

With 15 French photographers being a part of The Delhi Photo Festival this year, it certainly is a grand cultural rendez-vous to look forward to. Soon, Afmagazine.in will feature an article on Fabien Charuau, another French photograher living in India whose most recent work forms a part of the Festival.